


Portrait of a Marriage

by ButterflyGhost



Category: due South
Genre: F/M, Gen, Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-04
Updated: 2014-09-04
Packaged: 2018-02-16 03:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2253753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ButterflyGhost/pseuds/ButterflyGhost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Time I wrote a happy ending for Ray, don't you think?</p></blockquote>





	Portrait of a Marriage

So, his first Christmas after Vegas, the whole family descended on Florida. Benny and Kowalski flew down from the frozen wilderness – the Florida cousins brought their kids specifically to see ‘the Mountie’ because rumour had got around that he personally knew Father Christmas – and Stella was officially introduced to the extended clan.

 

Ma was arguing with her sister in the kitchen, Benny and Kowalski were being climbed on by toddlers, the rest of the kids were running through the house like a herd of wildebeest, and Stella was crooking a finger at him. She tilted her head to the back door. ‘Run away with me,’ her body language was saying. Or, in other words, ‘I need some peace and quiet! Let’s go!’

 

He grinned, and the two of them snuck out, slid their arms around each other’s waists, and made their way to the beach. It was a slow walk – they had to keep stopping to kiss each other, after all – but after a while they’d walked far enough away that there was nobody in sight, and the only noise was the rhythmic wash of the waves, and the cry of the gulls.

 

“You know you’re beautiful,” he said, a while later, attempting, unsuccessfully, to brush sand out of her hair.

 

“Yes,” she said, and he chuckled. Her eyes crinkled back in a smile. “Someone keeps telling me that.”

 

_Ask her. Go on, you’ve been wanting to ask her forever…_

“Stella…” His voice trailed off.

 

“Yes?”

 

He looked at her. He was crap at being in love with people. He’d messed things up so badly in the past. He couldn’t mess Stella up, could he? She was too clever and tough for that, wasn’t she? But tough as she was, she’d had her heart broken before, even though it was nobody’s fault. What if he ended up breaking her heart? He wouldn’t mean to, but he might. What if he cracked up on her, what if he messed everything up – it was his pattern after all. She could do so much better than him.

 

_Yeah, but – she doesn’t want to. God knows why, but she actually wants you._

“Would you, uhm… would you…?”

 

She pressed her body up against his, little and light, and strong.

 

“Yes.” She kissed the word up against his lips, then said it again, and again. “Yes, yes, yes.”

~*~

 

“You know, Benny, it’s just not fair,” Ray declared, straightening his cuffs, and trying not to sweat through his suit. “I know you’re the best man, but do you think one day in your life you could manage not to be the best _looking_ man? I mean, dial it down a notch, or Stella’s gonna think she’s marrying the wrong guy.”

 

Benny was radiant in his red serge, more so than usual – he looked as delighted as if it was his own wedding day. “I think Stella is perfectly happy with the choice she made.”

 

“Yeah?” Ray knew he was being silly, feeling nervous like this. This wasn’t like the first time he got married, back when he’d been so young he still believed in all that fairy-tale crap. And it wasn’t first go-round for Stella either – neither one of them was going into this thinking the other was the magic fix to all life’s problems. But he was still scared ‘cause… well she was ten times too good for him, and hadn’t figured it out yet. Okay, so, somehow he’d tricked Stella into falling in love with him… any minute now she was going to wake up and realise that she still had a chance to get away.

 

“Oh, shit… Benny, you’ve still got the rings, don’t you?”

 

Benny patted his tunic, and smiled. “Here.”

 

“And…” Ray stuttered to a stop. His whole family were treating this wedding like a visit from the Holy Father himself. The women were flocking around Stella, preparing her for the big moment – Okay, so they couldn’t get married in the church (they’d both been divorced, and Stella wasn’t Catholic) but they could get a blessing in the church. Stella was being kept away from men – except the man who was going to give her away.

 

“Don’t worry, Ray,” Benny said, gently. “I’m sure Stella’s feeling nervous too.”

 

“Yeah, course she is.” Ray jerked his chin at his reflection. “Look what she’s marrying.”

 

Benny came around, solemnly, like a tailor, and smoothed Ray’s jacket. “You look fine.”

 

“I look like the frog who came to dinner.”

 

“Ray,” Benny chided. “You look very dapper.”

 

Ray glanced at his nervous reflection, then glanced back, surprised. _Wow, I don’t look Armando at all._

“You’re feeling alright?”

 

“Yeah,” Ray turned from the mirror, and looked at Benny. “Yeah, I’m feeling fine.” He took a deep breath and let it out with a smile. “Alright then. Let’s do this thing.”

**Author's Note:**

> Time I wrote a happy ending for Ray, don't you think?


End file.
